Parker, Spurs breeze past Jazz

Tony Parker shooed away the NBA coach of the year. The San Antonio Spurs were ahead 36 points and he didn’t want Gregg Popovich to end his night just yet.

“To stay in shape,” Parker said.

That’s how bad it got for the Utah Jazz. It was the third quarter of a playoff game, and Parker by then was practically treating it as just another workout.

Pummeling the Jazz in a fashion not seen since Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls humiliated them in the 1998 NBA Finals, San Antonio handed Utah its second-worst playoff loss, winning 114-83 on Wednesday night to take 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

Parker scored 18 points, while Popovich—a day after receiving the NBA’s highest coaching honor—could practically put the Spurs on autopilot after a 20-0 run in the second quarter. Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin had admitted to being unusually jittery before losing Game 1, but this time, it was center Al Jefferson summing up how this shiner felt.

The Pacers regained home-court advantage with the victory, riding good shooting early and building a 29-point lead in the fourth quarter. They also dominated scoring underneath thanks to a 46-33 rebounding edge and have outscored the Magic 81-43 in the third quarter in the series.

Glen Davis led the Magic with 22 points, and J.J. Redick added 13. The Magic never led, struggled to get any scoring in the paint, and made a series-low five 3-pointers.

The Grizzlies blew a 27-point lead in losing Sunday night and letting the Clippers grab home-court advantage in the best-of-seven, first-round Western Conference series. They got back to their physical style and evened the series.